Question

we are building a modular home in fl and would like to know which building materials we should avoid to keep our air quality very healthy

Asked by
tawna chammas Deerfield Beach, FL

we are very concerned about our health as my husband had cancer and we really don't know much about building and safe materials. We want a healthy environment with great air quality. I am very chemically sensitive myself and we would hate to build it and find out that it makes us sick. The company is palm harbor homes which is the biggest nation wide company for modulars in the US. The options are tiles, laminate, fermica counter tops (I am pretty sure that is bad) quarts. I would ask them to use low VOC paints or otherwise paint it ourselves. We wouldn't do any carpet because of the fumes but other than that I don't know what else we should look for. Thank you so much for your time I hope I gave you enough information.

Answer

Tawna, Unfortunately traditional modular homes are loaded with VOC's (volatile organic compounds) from the building materials they will use. Right down to the subflooring and all the way up to the cabinets. There are other modular home manufacturers out in the marketplace building green, heathy alternatives and you might want to search them out. One is called LivingHomes : http://www.livinghomes.net/primer.html Good luck !

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